


Stripped Away

by Thorki_ed



Series: Tumblr Requests/Norsekink Prompts [22]
Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-09
Updated: 2012-06-09
Packaged: 2017-11-07 09:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/429632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorki_ed/pseuds/Thorki_ed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for this <a href="http://norsekink.livejournal.com/8802.html?thread=18304354#t18304354">norsekink prompt</a>:<br/>Loki is captured. When they put the magic restraining cuffs on him, he can no longer sustain the glamour he put over himself and Thor and the other Avengers see what he really looks like.</p><p>Grotesque scars, bruises, and not-yet-healed wounds cover his body.<br/>In my head, he doesn't revert to Jotunn form, cause that's Odin's magic at work, not Loki's- but if you want Jotunn!Loki go for it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stripped Away

"If it's all the same to you, I'll take that drink now," Loki says to Iron Man. The Hulk just laughs, and scoops him up with one hand. And squeezes hard. Before Loki can conjure up a single bit of magic, he turns limp.

Thor knocks the Hulk in the wrist, with fury.

"Relax. Just sleep." The Hulk says, relieving Thor's heart from its rapid pace.

"He is of Asgard, I mean to take him back for his proper hearing."

"And how do you know he won't just escape, kill you, ("or take control of you" Hawkeye chips in) and come back for the rest of us?" Iron Man asks.

"He thrives on magic. We cut off his magic." Thor's response was simple.

The rest of the Avengers could here the _duh_ in Thor's voice. They hadn't thought of it so simply, because really it's quite confusing dealing with godly stuff. So they agreed, letting the Hulk keep a tight grasp on Loki as they headed back to the designated holding cell and Thor left Earth to find someone to forge magic-blocking restraints.

They led him to another large cylindrical container, similar to the Hulk's emergency bunk and left him in the simple bed in the middle. They wait patiently for Thor's return, and are not disappointed. He explains that the handcuffs will block the magic that must flow throw his veins when he tries something, and the mouthguard will keep him from uttering words of magic - which can be just as deadly.

Thor slips the mouthguard on while Loki is sleeping, and upon sudden cold metal on flesh, Loki's eyes fly open and he starts to struggle. But, he is underneath Thor's tremendous weight, and before long, Thor snaps each cuff shut and hurriedly retreats out the room. The door is locked shut and Loki flings his entire body against it. 

Loki loses control. He starts slamming his hands against the glass, badly scraping the flesh from wrists before sinking to his knees from utter exhaustion.

That's when they see it.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

His eyes are becoming duller and the bags under his eyes darken so much they threaten to swallow his eyes whole in their dark abyss. His anger is so powerful that it practically shoots out of him, and his body trashes about before the metal mouthguard eventually falls away, shattered into bits and pieces. The Avengers are afraid, he had broken through one of restraints and seemed to determine to break the other.

A small cut forms under his left eye and grows, wider and longer until it hits the bridge of his nose. A severe cut on his lip appears dark with clotted blood, and there is a visibly still-healing scar down his jaw line. Loki runs his tongue along his bottom lip, tastes the blood, and is immediately set off again.

He shakes and shivers, and the team can't tell if he's crying, but they are all glued to their place, their eyes wide with horror.

Tiny cuts appear all over his hands, and the red is shocking against his pale skin. Loki's still freaking out, and storms over to the panel of glass closest to the team. 

"YOU WILL PAY. YOU WILL ALL PAY." he screams in a heart-wrenching voice, his eyes wide with mania. Sweat was gathering upon his brow, and he suddenly lurched forward, hands on the glass to steady himself. It was no use, as he was being forced to his knees with his face grimaced. His breathes were sporadic, and Thor called for medical attention. Demanded it immediately.

When the medical team got there, Loki was already still, the only movement of very small breathes, and Thor rushes to his side, refusing to leave until he wakes again.

The Avengers had never seen anything like this, and were too startled or horrified to speak. Even the Hulk cannot hate Loki in this current state.

"How could that possibly happen?" Tony asks.

Natasha just shakes her head in disbelief, "I've never seen anything like that... He looked like a dead man walking."

Clint and Steve were afraid. It was unnatural, and both men had good senses, but were never exposed to anything so surreal. Steve fought wars when modern technology wasn't complicating things, and Hawkeye has distanced himself from most brutal killings, preferring to be shooting from higher ground.

Loki stirs.

They quickly put him back under for fear that he would wake and cause more destruction. The examiners are tentatively removing bits and pieces of metal armour and clothing. What lies underneath is even more horrific. Long, deep gashes ran along his body, and Thor felt sick to his stomach. He excused himself and left quickly, with one hand clasped over his mouth and eyes filled with tears.

The Avengers notice him and turn to face the glass cage again. They could never be prepared for this. What they thought was terrifying before could not match up to this sight.

Loki was practically dead. His body had been laid to waste by the hands of someone who was surely sadistic. He had shallow stab wounds on his chest, over his heart that formed an "X". As if someone had marked him for later. Identical bruises on his calves and biceps were purple and yellow, as if he were restrained by large cuffs. There's a chunk missing from his upper left thigh, with ragged edges as if it were bitten by a large beast.

The Avengers felt terrible. Loki had been put through hell and back, and all they were doing was adding to it. The blood running from his wrists were bright red, fresh with agony against the restraints that they had used. 

There was a bruise starting to show on his left forearm, the fingerprints embedded into his flesh. They were large enough to only belong to one person.

The Hulk looked extremely... sad. He knew he was responsible for those marks, and many others he was sure. He even felt guilty. 

They couldn't stand it any more. They couldn't watch parts of Loki's body began to show themselves. They looked away, just as Thor was re-entering, looking almost as pale as Loki.

The team just looked up at him, not knowing what to say or do, and Thor felt the same. He glanced from worried face to worried face before Steve put his hand gently on Thor's shoulder.

"Hey, we're sorry about this. We didn't know..."

"I know. I did not know either. How could I not have known?" Thor said in anguish. "He was - he is my brother. I should have known..." he broke down.

The others tried their best to condole him before they heard Loki's tortured shrieks of pain behind them. 

They turned to see Loki staring into the glass facing a black wall. The medical team was not hurt, but they cautiously stepped away from him. Thor raced inside. His reflection was obviously what Loki had been staring at. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes and he took his trembling hands to trace the deep wounds all over his body. At every touch of a crusted scar or wet warmth of a wound not yet healed, he flinched and winced in pain, though it was more emotion and physical.

"Brother..." Thor whispered.

Loki whipped around, almost stripped bare. "Curse you! Curse your pathetic friends! Curse all of Midgard!" His words tremble with his body.

But before he could speak any more, Thor placed his arms around him, and held him as tightly as Thor dared. By now, the two were alone in his cell, brother in brother's arms. Thor pulled his cape off his back and wrapped it around his younger brother before pulling him in again. 

It was a sweet sight to Avengers, who were still distraught over seeing Loki's condition. 

"Let me uncuff you," Thor says gently.

"Wh.. what? Why are you doing this?" Loki is cautious, trying to sense if this was a trick. "What's the catch?"

"That you let me hold you," Thor responds. He makes a move to get the cuffs off.

Loki is thrown off by how genuine Thor is being, but accepts it because his wrists are absolutely raw.

When Thor is done, he tosses the cuffs to the side, and lifts Loki to carry him to his bed. Too tired to protest, Loki just shoots Thor daggers with his eyes.

"Please," Thor says with tears spilling, "If I had known... Why didn't you say something? I... I should have been there. I should have been there. With you. Brother, forgive me." Thor rests his head upon Loki's chest and sobs. 

Loki feels oddly affected by it, and the apology makes Loki see that Thor has not set out to kill him, or even harm if Thor could help it.... He still apologized for being a "bad brother". How backwards things seemed to Loki.

Thor gently extends Loki's arms and applies a warm, wet cloth to a bloodied clot. Loki hisses through his teeth in pain, but Thor continues to wipe away the half-dried blood.

 _Thor is caring for me,_ Loki realizes. And all at once, he realizes how much he had missed this from their childhood together, what his life has become, and what it could be if this moment could be promised to him.

The other Avengers had hesitantly walked into the chamber as well, but Loki was not frightened by them - their faces showed grief, agony, and sympathy.

One by one, they too surround the bed and pick up clothes and bandages. Together, in sweet silence, they mend the broken Loki.


End file.
